My baby is 3 weeks old today and i pump breast milk for him. Hes a lazy eater and REFUSES to latch on. ( I think that having big boobs makes it harder too. I wear a DDD bra.) The past few nights he has been wanting to eat more often and he wants more milk. He has been taking 3ozs every 3 hours. But the night before last he took 5ozs before he was happy! He cried all last night. I fed him and he still seemed hungry. He has been very fussy. I'm having a very hard time keeping up with the amount he wants to eat... i cant pump it fast enough. I noticed the day that he was born that there are two little lines where his front teeth will one day be. Could he be teething? Some one told me to gve him one tea spoon of cereal in his bottle.. is that safe at 3 weeks? I;m trying to to use formula because he gets constipated when i give it to him... is there a kind that I can give him that will not make his belly hurt? I'm desperate! I need your help ladies. I have not had maybe 8 or 9 hours of sleep in 4 days. Anita

not sure about the formula... but as for the age and the cereal.... well here is my latest experience, which happened to have been almost 7 yrs ago.

my youngest son had pretty bad reflux and so that he wasnt projectile vomiting, i started giving him babyfood at around 2 weeks... everything mixed with cereal (rice) from squash to applesauce and pears... he loved it and he kept the food and formula down. he didnt gain a whole lot of weight and he is still pretty healthy... he is almost 4ft and weighs 70lbs... so not bad for almost 7 yrs old...

good luck, and you do what you feel is best for your baby.... doctors will tell you NO dont give any form of solids... but if your baby is hungry then you have to do what you have to do.

not sure about the formula... but as for the age and the cereal.... well here is my latest experience, which happened to have been almost 7 yrs ago.

my youngest son had pretty bad reflux and so that he wasnt projectile vomiting, i started giving him babyfood at around 2 weeks... everything mixed with cereal (rice) from squash to applesauce and pears... he loved it and he kept the food and formula down. he didnt gain a whole lot of weight and he is still pretty healthy... he is almost 4ft and weighs 70lbs... so not bad for almost 7 yrs old...

good luck, and you do what you feel is best for your baby.... doctors will tell you NO dont give any form of solids... but if your baby is hungry then you have to do what you have to do.

Never feed solids that early. You nurse or you offer a bottle at this age only. Growth spurts are almost constant during the first few months and should be expected. During those times it is tough to keep up whether you nurse or pump. A baby needs only breastmilk or formula during the first six months minimum and if fed the right amount of the RIGHT fluids often enough.
No cereal in a bottle. No cereal on a spoon this early. Keep pumping and try feeding ever two hours or more frequently if baby demands it.

Never feed solids that early. You nurse or you offer a bottle at this age only. Growth spurts are almost constant during the first few months and should be expected. During those times it is tough to keep up whether you nurse or pump. A baby needs only breastmilk or formula during the first six months minimum and if fed the right amount of the RIGHT fluids often enough.
No cereal in a bottle. No cereal on a spoon this early. Keep pumping and try feeding ever two hours or more frequently if baby demands it.

I agree with Andi- PLEASE don't give him cereal. There are very good reasons why doctors tell you not to give solids at that age. And if he's having trouble with consitpation from just formula, cereal would probably really cause some problems.

The 3 ounces every 3 hours seemed normal. What happened the other night may be the result of a growth spurt, as Andi said. A nursing baby would cluster feed during one of these spurts. It shouldn't last too long. Since formula constipates him, you could offer the typical 3 ounce feed of breastmilk, and then just give an additional ounce of formula if he needs it and you don't have enough breast milk. Breastmilk does not have to be all or nothing. Spreading a few ounces of formula out throughout the day instead of giving a few ounces in one feeding may help ease problems of constipation.

Another option- when my little one hit her first growth spurt I stressed out and called my lactation consultant. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough breastmilk. She suggested that I give a bottle of formula a day just so that i could get a little ahead with some in the fridge so that i don't stress so much. Luckily, increasing my pump lengths a little, and making sure i pumped frequently enough, i never had to do it. But it honestly gave me some peace of mind to know that I could. As you may know, pumpers start to obsess about numbers and ounces. You always want to be ahead, and you begin to panic even when you are just keeping up.

How long are you pumping? The baby gets fuller and more satisfied if you have a good foremilk/hindmilk balance. If you aren't pumping long enough you may not have enough hindmilk. Does your milk look thinner some days?

as for what formula- my little one was older when we introduced it, but we noticed she definitely did much better on the Nestle Good Start than on Similac or Enfamil.

Good luck, and know that you're not alone! It does get easier! You are giving your baby boy such a wonderful gift, but don't let the stress of it consume you. Just do your best and remember that it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Oh yea- one final thought... around 3 weeks i realized that sometimes she just wanted to suckle. My LC said I could introduce a pacifier and sure enough, that made a huge difference as well.

I agree with Andi- PLEASE don't give him cereal. There are very good reasons why doctors tell you not to give solids at that age. And if he's having trouble with consitpation from just formula, cereal would probably really cause some problems.

The 3 ounces every 3 hours seemed normal. What happened the other night may be the result of a growth spurt, as Andi said. A nursing baby would cluster feed during one of these spurts. It shouldn't last too long. Since formula constipates him, you could offer the typical 3 ounce feed of breastmilk, and then just give an additional ounce of formula if he needs it and you don't have enough breast milk. Breastmilk does not have to be all or nothing. Spreading a few ounces of formula out throughout the day instead of giving a few ounces in one feeding may help ease problems of constipation.

Another option- when my little one hit her first growth spurt I stressed out and called my lactation consultant. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough breastmilk. She suggested that I give a bottle of formula a day just so that i could get a little ahead with some in the fridge so that i don't stress so much. Luckily, increasing my pump lengths a little, and making sure i pumped frequently enough, i never had to do it. But it honestly gave me some peace of mind to know that I could. As you may know, pumpers start to obsess about numbers and ounces. You always want to be ahead, and you begin to panic even when you are just keeping up.

How long are you pumping? The baby gets fuller and more satisfied if you have a good foremilk/hindmilk balance. If you aren't pumping long enough you may not have enough hindmilk. Does your milk look thinner some days?

as for what formula- my little one was older when we introduced it, but we noticed she definitely did much better on the Nestle Good Start than on Similac or Enfamil.

Good luck, and know that you're not alone! It does get easier! You are giving your baby boy such a wonderful gift, but don't let the stress of it consume you. Just do your best and remember that it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Oh yea- one final thought... around 3 weeks i realized that sometimes she just wanted to suckle. My LC said I could introduce a pacifier and sure enough, that made a huge difference as well.

My baby is 3 weeks old today and i pump breast milk for him. Hes a lazy eater and REFUSES to latch on. ( I think that having big boobs makes it harder too. I wear a DDD bra.) The past few nights he has been wanting to eat more often and he wants more milk. He has been taking 3ozs every 3 hours. But the night before last he took 5ozs before he was happy! He cried all last night. I fed him and he still seemed hungry. He has been very fussy. I'm having a very hard time keeping up with the amount he wants to eat... i cant pump it fast enough. I noticed the day that he was born that there are two little lines where his front teeth will one day be. Could he be teething? Some one told me to gve him one tea spoon of cereal in his bottle.. is that safe at 3 weeks? I;m trying to to use formula because he gets constipated when i give it to him... is there a kind that I can give him that will not make his belly hurt? I'm desperate! I need your help ladies. I have not had maybe 8 or 9 hours of sleep in 4 days. Anita

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